Opportunistic interaction in the challenged internet of things

Abstract

Under intermittent Internet connectivity, enabling interaction between smart objects and mobile users in the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes a challenge. We thus discuss the notion of a 'Challenged IoT' and propose Direct Interaction with Smart Challenged Objects (DISCO), enabling objects to define their interaction patterns and interface. Building on the distinct features of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), objects then convey their interface directly to mobile users. DISCO mitigates the need for Internet connectivity and pre-installed interfaces, i.e., smartphone apps, of existing approaches and proposes autonomous and local interaction with smart objects as a challenged network scenario. We implement DISCO for Android and iOS smartphones as well as Linux and Arduino objects and illustrate the design space of interaction patterns with Augmented Reality (AR) interaction based on visual object recognition within the tangible interaction sphere of the user. Our system evaluation shows the immediate real-life feasibility and applicability of DISCO on current hardware.